


Don't Blink

by Yadirocks



Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-19
Updated: 2014-11-07
Packaged: 2018-02-21 19:20:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2479556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yadirocks/pseuds/Yadirocks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thanks to a 9-year-old Yadier,  Bengie and José find themselves playing for an outstanding travel team and start to get scouted by MLB teams. But what will happen when tragedy strikes? Will they give up their glory and the chance to win the championship for their little brother?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Scout

"Come on, boys! Let's win this!" Benjamin Molina shouted as his team took the field. His oldest son, Bengie, who was 16, came over. "Papa, where do you want me to play?"

Benjamin thought about it for a moment. "Go to left field. I would have you catch, but I already told Ricardo he was catching the next inning."

Bengie nodded, being respectful of his father's decision. "I have heard rumors that the scout for that tournament team, the Bombas, is here tonight. They're looking for a catcher, so I will put you in behind the dish, but not this inning. I want other players to get a chance to show them what they've got also."

Jose, Benjamin's second oldest son at 15, sat on the bench, staring at his cleats and kicking dirt up into clouds. The coach sighed before sitting next to him. "I'm not sitting you for anything that you did, Jose. I'm sitting you because of that pitch you got hit with in batting practice. You are as great as any catcher I've ever seen, including Bengie."

Jose nodded. "I know, Papa. I understand."

Benjamin smiled, patting his son on the back. Someone tugged at his shirt from behind, and he looked back to find his youngest son, Yadier, who was only eight years old, staring at him with a bottle of water in his hand. "Here's your water, Papa. I'm sorry it isn't cold, but none of them were in the fridge."

Benjamin took the bottle of water and gave his youngest son a smile. "It's okay. Thank you."

Yadier walked back to the steel benches, sitting down with a sigh. There was a man sitting a little bit down the row, watching the game. He scooted closer until he was sitting right next to the stranger. He still didn't look at the child.   
The man was scribbling notes on a pad of paper, mumbling to himself. Yadier looked up at him. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously. 

Still writing, the man said, "Working."

Yadier read the notes and said, "I wish my job was to watch baseball. I'd be rich because I do it all the time."

He received a small smile, and that was enough for him. Suddenly, the ball was hit to left field. Bengie caught it and threw it back in without hardly even moving. Yadier sighed. "I wish Bengie was catching. He's amazing at catching."

He was slightly surprised whenever the man looked down at him. "Which one is Bengie?"

Yadier pointed to left field. "He's my brother. So is José, but Papa sat him on the bench because he hurt his wrist in batting practice."

"Do they both catch?"

The eight-year-old smiled, satisfied that he finally got the man's attention. "Yeah. José always catches, and he's really good too, but Bengie has a better arm. But I don't know about framing. I think José wins that one. He's amazing at it."

The man seemed intrigued, which made Yadier happy that he was giving this man information about something he seemed very interested in. "How old are they?"

"Bengie is the oldest. He's sixteen. José is fifteen."

The guy seemed baffled. "Do you play baseball too?"

Yadier nodded. "Yeah, but Papa says that I have to work on my blocking more. I don't hit as well as them, either."

Putting his pen down, the scout turned to Yadier. "Tell me more about their catching abilities."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm bad at summaries.

After a long game, which they won 6-2, Benjamin picked Yadier up in his arms. "You'd better get some sleep. Your little league game starts at nine."

Yadier giggled whenever Benjamin tickled his stomach. "I will, Papa."

Bengie and José were talking about the highlights of the game, as they usually did. "I hope that scout noticed you, Bengie," José said, keeping his eyes averted to the dirt as they walked across the street to their house. Bengie put an arm around José's shoulders. "Don't worry, José. Everyone knows that you're the best catcher on that team. You're even better than myself."

Benjamin smiled at his sons. Somehow, he had managed to get Yadier to fall asleep, his head resting on his father's shoulder.

"All of you are great baseball players. No matter what that scout thinks, I'm proud of my sons."

He received two grateful smiles and a small squeak as Yadier started to stir. Benjamin sent him back into dreams by patting his back gently.

Gladys Molina was waiting for them at the house. "Go get washed up, both of you," she said, gesturing to the two brothers with dirt all over their uniforms. "I won't have dirt tracking through this house."

They both nodded, racing to the bathroom to see who would shower first. Benjamin gave his wife a kiss before she asked, "How'd the game go?"

He smiled. "We won. I think there was a scout there from a tournament team. Hopefully, Bengie caught their attention."

Gladys took Yadier from her husband, and said, "I'll go tuck him in. Go on to bed. You look exhausted."

Benjamin kissed her again before he dragged himself into his bedroom. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he fell into a peaceful sleep, hoping for the best for his sons.

He awoke to someone shaking him. He sighed, thinking it was morning. "Is it time to get up already?"

A small voice said, "No. I don't feel good, Papa."

Benjamin sat up and turned on the bedside lamp. Yadier was standing by his end of the bed, his face pale. 

He motioned for Yadier to come nearer, and felt his forehead. "Well, you have a little bit of a fever. What hurts?"

Yadier looked down. "My stomach."

Benjamin put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"

Yadier shook his head. "Not right now, but it does hurt like that."

With a big whoosh of breath, Benjamin got up. "Let's check your temperature and give you some of that stomach medicine. Then we'll see how you feel in the morning. Alright?"

Yadier nodded, and followed his father into the bathroom. Benjamin reached into the small cabinet and pulled out the thermometer, placing it in Yadier's mouth. 

His youngest looked tired, like he hadn't slept all night. The thermometer beeped and Benjamin looked at the result, tilting his head to the side when it said Yadier had a 99.7 fever. "Luckily, it isn't over 100 degrees, but we'll check again in the morning."

Then he pulled out the stomach medicine, which was a pink syrup that said it tasted like cotton candy, but tasted awful. He filled the dropper up and fed it to Yadier, who took the medicine without any protests.

Benjamin ruffled his hair. "Off to bed now. Get some sleep."

Yadier nodded, and toddled to his and his brothers' bedroom. Benjamin went back to bed, rubbing his face tiredly. He sent a prayer up to God, hoping Yadier would feel better in the morning, before laying back down and falling asleep once again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No summary.

Bengie awoke with a yawn, sitting up in bed. He looked at the alarm clock on their dresser. 8:20. He was surprised when he looked down to find that his little brother, Yadier, was still laying beside him, sleeping soundlessly. Bengie shook him gently. 

Yadier opened his eyes and looked up at his brother. "You'd better get up," Bengie told him. "Your little league game starts in forty minutes."

His little brother nodded, dragging himself out of bed and walking to the closet, rummaging through the many hangers for his uniform.

Bengie got out of bed when he saw that Yadier had found his outfit, but he was too small to reach it. "Here," he said, taking the hanger off of the ring and handing it to Yadier. "Go shower and get dressed."

With another nod, Yadier trudged out of the room. Bengie thought his brother was acting odd. He hadn't spoken a word, which was very rare for him. Yadier also always got up on time.

Bengie just sighed and walked into the kitchen, deciding he would start making breakfast. Just when he was deciding which cereal his brothers would like to eat, his father came into the room. "Where's Yadier?" he asked. 

The oldest pointed to the bathroom. "He just woke up. He should be ready in about fifteen minutes."

Benjamin rubbed his chin, as if he were thinking very deeply about something. "Did he accidentally sleep in?"

Bengie nodded. His father sighed. "I hope he's feeling alright. Last night he said he wasn't feeling well. Hopefully, it was just a little stomachache."

Bengie agreed, and asked, "What do you want for breakfast, Papa?"

Yadier finally came out of the bathroom. José was awake now too, and all were sitting at the table, chewing on bacon and eating cereal. Benjamin felt his forehead again, and sighed. "You still have a fever, bud."

His youngest sighed. "I know, Papa. I really want to play, though. That man last night said that I sounded like I was a good baseball player."

The other three exchanged glances with each other before they stared at Yadier. "What man, Yadi?" Benjamin asked, calling his son by his nickname so he wouldn't think he was in trouble. 

Yadier shrugged. "Well, there was a man there, scribbling words onto paper and talking to himself. I thought he was funny. He seemed very interested, though, whenever I told him about Bengie and José and how great of catchers I think they are. He said he was working. Papa, can my job be to watch baseball, too?"

José gaped at Yadier before turning to Bengie and his father. "He talked to the scout about us!"

Yadier tilted his head and looked at his father. "Papa, what's a scout? Like those girls scouts that always bring us cookies?"

Benjamin laughed, and ruffled his son's hair. "A baseball scout is someone for a better team who goes to watch games from a smaller team, like ours, and try to find players good enough for their team. And if they're good enough, they'll invite them to play for that team."

Bengie smiled excitedly. "I've heard that scouts for MLB teams go to the Bombas' games!"

Yadier shrugged, and then looked at his father with pleading eyes. "Please let me play, Papa. I feel better."

Benjamin sighed, and said, "Okay. But if you start to feel like you're going to throw up, you need to tell me."

Yadier nodded. "I will, Papa. I promise."

With that, they gathered their equipment and left to go across the road to the baseball field. Bengie sat beside José. "I can't believe he didn't know what a scout was."

José stared at his cereal. "I can't believe that he actually talked to the guy about us."


End file.
